When police seized a pound of heroin, thousands in cash and a loaded revolver after searching three Eureka residences last week, they also picked up one of Humboldt County's allegedly largest heroin dealers -- a man they had pursued for at least a year.

"I'm not going to say he's the biggest heroin player in the county, but he's major," Eureka Police Department Sgt. Steve Watson said Wednesday.

Luis Miguel Esparza-Zermeno, 30, and Yisele Bautista, 19, were both arrested in the sting on Jan. 2 that involved the EPD, Humboldt County Sheriff's Office and Humboldt County Drug Task Force. Officers from the three agencies conducted three simultaneous search warrants on an apartment on the 3900 block of Cedar Street, the 10 block of Del Norte Street, and the 4200 block of Walnut Street.

It is Esparza-Zermeno who Watson said his department has long pursued, first searching his residence on Walnut Street about a year ago. That time EPD officers came up empty-handed on heroin, Watson said. Esparza-Zermeno has since been free. Watson said the department soon realized the suspected dealer "kept the majority of his product in a separate location from where he stayed."

Officers were able to determine that the apartment on Cedar Street would be where they might find heroin they could link to the suspected dealer. Sure enough, they turned up 20 ounces of Mexican black tar heroin at the apartment in the sting, along with 10 ounces of an unknown substance sent to the Department of Justice lab for analysis and identification. Watson said it was likely a "cutting agent" for the heroin -- a less expensive chemical used to dilute illicit drugs.

But law enforcement didn't come up empty handed on their second search of Esparza-Zermeno's place on Walnut Street, either. There, they found drug sales ledgers, four pounds of processed marijuana, a necklace bearing the image of the "narco patron saint" Jesus Malverde, three digital gram scales, heroin use paraphernalia, suspected controlled prescription medication pills crushed into powder form, a loaded .22 caliber revolver and over $23,000, according to a press release.

Watson said Esparza-Zermeno "definitely" has connections to a Mexican drug cartel, but he is not necessarily a cartel member himself. The necklace officers found with Malverde's picture -- a folklore hero and bandit with a Robin Hood-esque image popular amongst drug traffickers -- was one indication, as were his Mexican "roots," Watson said.

"That's where he gets the heroin," Watson confirmed.

Esparza-Zermeno was arrested on suspicion of possession of heroin for sale, maintaining a place for drug sales and possession of marijuana for sale.

Bautista was arrested on suspicion of possession of drug paraphernalia, and later possessing heroin for sale, after she was found with an additional two ounces of the drug hidden in her undergarments while being checked into the county jail.

Watson said the bust was large compared to any recent case countywide -- the largest for three years in Eureka.

A drug task force raid on area Mexican drug trafficking organizations in February, 2011, netted about five pounds of heroin. In Eureka, the task force seized three pounds and arrested five people in a March, 2009 sting.

Drug Task Force Lt. Wayne Hanson said the $23,000 confiscated was an "above average cash" amount for what his department usually finds. The department confiscated $400,000 in one raid last year, he said.

This time, as is typical, he said Esparza-Zermeno had hidden the cash in numerous locations around the home, including a cardboard box, and eyeglass container and an envelope in the back of a picture on the wall.

The task force is in charge of the civil process of seizing the money in this case, Hanson said. An agent is assigned to the financial investigation of where the money came from, and whether it was made legally. Esparza-Zermeno can contest the agent's findings in civil court, Hanson said.

If not claimed after 30 days, the money goes into an account, eventually to be divided between the three agencies that conducted the search -- the EPD, drug task force and sheriff's office.

"It's basically used to supplement those agency's budgets," Hanson said.

Watson said another major sting -- this on a suspected methamphetamine dealer -- also occurred recently.

EPD seized nearly a pound of methamphetamine during the last week in December, Watson said. The main suspect in that case, yet to be arrested, is also a Mexican national. There is no indication the two cases are linked. He said he couldn't give more specific details about the case, as it is still under investigation.

The 14-ounce methamphetamine bust was "one of the larger all-in-one busts made in awhile," Watson said.

Fifty-four ounces of the drug -- roughly equivalent to 600 street doses -- were confiscated in a Eureka bust in early Jan., 2011. That case was also connected with three Mexican nationals who had suspected ties to cartels.